Ornaments from Ouida

I'm not the only one who's been busy stitching.  Ouida sent me pics of some ornaments she's made and they're beautiful  I wish you could see hers up close because you would die of envy if you could see the precision of her stitches.  I love when other people make patterns that I designed.  Here's Ouida's take on my Fisher Price Little People. I'm actually working on a set of these for myself as we speak.   

She also worked up some classic DeAngelis patterns.

Here's Kola Koala.  This one turned out great! 

Betsy Bubbles 

Della from Delft 

This is NOT a DeAngelis, but I'm pretty sure I have this pattern, too.

Janet -- is this one of yours??

Missy Goose

I've been wanting to do this one for for a while.  I figured it would be a good place to start with some of the nursery rhyme ornaments.  This one was really fun and even though it had a ton of pieces, it went together quicker than I thought.  (I won't lie, though . . . I was decompressing the day after Thanksgiving and spent several hours stitching while binge-watching old episodes of ER.)

This one is fun because there's so much you can do in terms of color.  Black boots vs. brown . . . gray hair to look like an old woman . . . bright colors or pastels.

The only change I made was to add spats to both boots because it's my understanding that spats go around the whole boot and would be seen on the inside of the back foot.  (Do you like how I sound all official and artisty like I know one darn thing about perspective???)  

I also enlarged the pattern a little.  As it fits on an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper, I thought she was a little on the small side . . . especially in terms of handling all the detail.  I enlarged her to 115% and used two sheets and she turned out the same size as most of my other ornaments. 

Here's another helpful hint for you.  I didn't have the exact shade of green thread in my ornament box and I just couldn't tear myself away from Dr. Lewis and the rest of the staff at County General to go down to my sewing room in search of some.  The thread I used was a little darker and, as you can see, you can really see those stitches.  I don't think it looks bad, but it ups the ante in terms of being pretty precise with stitch uniformity because it's not very forgiving!   

Richmond

I make mice ornaments each year for Allyson and my mom.  I don't always do it this way, but this year I did a double.  Here's the thing about doing doubles . . . . it seems like such a good idea in terms of efficiency.  If you have a short attention span like me, though, this gets maddening quick.  The cutting-out phase goes well.  That's my least favorite part of the process and doing two at the same time always makes me feel like I've really accomplished something.  (It doesn't take much.)  Then I start stitching them side-by-side.  Head on this one . . . head on that one . . . ears on this one . . . ears on that one . . . you get the picture.  About halfway through, I get impatient and completely finish one and then go back and completely finish the other one.  Every time.  I'm nothing if not predictable.

This was another one of Carolyn DeAngelis' bear patterns that I put a mouse head on.  It turned out really cute.  I gave my mother hers at Thanksgiving and she loved it!

 

Star Bright

This is Audrey's 9th angel ornament.  I have to keep a photo folder going just for hers so I can remember what I've already made.  This is Carolyn DeAngelis' Star Bright pattern.  If I had to do it over again, I'd enlarge it just a little as it's sort of on the small side.  Still cute, though!

Cinderella

I promised my friend, Naomi, a Disney princess/girl each year for her daughter, Penny Jean.  The year she was born, she received Snow White.  Last year I made her Tinkerbell, a pattern I originally designed for Mariah.  This year, I decided to do Cinderella.  This seemed like something that would be easily adaptable from an existing pattern, so I looked at some pictures online after a quick Google search and that helped me with colors and dress details.  

Cinderella's hair immediately made me think of the DeAngelis ballerina pattern called Tip Toe.  And that was my jumping off point.  

All I did was add a skirt and shoes, change the neckline, and draw the shoulder poufs, gloves, choker, and peplum and we were good to go!  

You really can't see it in the photo, but I used glitter felt for all the white pieces to give it a little sparkle.  She was pretty quick and easy and turned out great.  Since I was able to adapt an existing DeAngelis pattern, I'm happy to share this one with you:  

Pierre

Alex, my oldest nephew, is a sophomore at Ohio University.  I made him an ornament of his school mascot last year.  And now that I type that, I realize that I neither posted it . . . nor took a picture of it.  I'll have to have my sister take a pic and send it to me.  Anyway, since I already made that, it was hard to decide what to do for him this year.  He did a study-abroad trip to France in May and he nearly got a French poodle before I came up with the idea to just do a French guy.  I Googled "French boy cartoon" or something like that and came up with some generic ideas.  Then I took the general features from the DeAngelis Solo Sam and stole the beret from  Marching Brayden.  I added a French flag and . . . PIERRE WAS BORN! 

I did have to stitch to separate the arms because of the stripes and those stripes are individually stitched on.  No fun, I tell you.  But he turned out great and I think Alex will love him.  Because I adapted a DeAngelis pattern, I'm happy to share this one with you.  Make it fit an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper and you'll be all set. 

Peggy

Like half the pool-owners in the United States, we acquired this giant pegasus float this summer courtesy of Mariah.  She promptly named her Peggy.  

I'm telling you, this float really made the rounds.  Peggy was hard at work saving lives in Texas following Hurricane Harvey.  

I really like ornaments that mark a specific memory or moment in time, so I just had to make this one a reality.  Since I can't draw, it was time to adapt.  This one was a cinch.  I headed straight for Carolyn DeAngelis' carousel horse, Dobin-Go-Round.  

I ditched the pole, bridle, and saddle and made stripes on the mane and tail.  Looking at the pattern, I did manage to freehand a wing.  I added some silver star sequins for some bling and made the facial features match the photo.  Everyone who sees this ornament says, "Oh -- a unicorn!"  There's just one problem . . . . no horn.  C'mon, people.  But you could easily add a horn and have yourself a fancy unicorn!

Since I adapted this from a DeAngelis pattern, I'm happy to share it with you.  As always -- just make it fit an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper and you're good to go!

Different Color -- Different Look

I did a couple of duplicates this year and I did the colors differently.  Thought you might like to see how changing the colors can change the look of the ornament.  I first made Wild Willy years ago and gave him an all-denim look.  This year, I changed his clothes up a little.  This is still one of my favorite DeAngelis patterns, though I think that cowboy hat could use a little tweaking.  Maybe the third time will be a charm!  You can also see the different of adding a nose.  

My youngest nephew began vocational school this fall in a fire-fighting program.  Fire Chief Freddy seemed an obvious choice for his ornament!  I wanted him to match Zach's uniform -- which is the tan version -- so I used those colors.  (I have no idea if Zach's helmet is red.  It probably isn't.  That was my festive choice.)  When I first posted this ornament, I remarked that I thought he needed some sort of accessory and contemplated stitching an axe.  Then I saw the version made by a faithful reader, Janet, and she had brilliantly used a piece of shoelace as a hose.  Perfect!